Where? That is all I want to know. Where did the last year and all those before it go? At Christmas time, I always remember the days of my childhood when my parents would lead me up those magical steps to the top floor of the Cayce Yost department store in downtown Hopkinsville. You see, that was the toy section of the store, and boy did they have them. The Wright side of the family would always get together on Christmas Eve. That meant a trip to Princeton where Grandma and Granddaddy Wright lived. That also meant that a little tyke named Mike would spend many a Christmas Eve night looking out the window on the way back to Cadiz, scanning the skies for a certain man in a red suit streaming through the sky.

Reflecting takes me back to the time Santa actually came by my house for an official visit set up by my parents. Mr. David Redmond was donning the Santa suit, and he was bigger than life to me. Every now and then, a picture surfaces of me peering out from behind the tree as Santa tried to talk to me.

Christmas morn meant getting up anywhere from the middle of the night to early in the a.m. Then it was across the street to play with Maxfield and Rosemary Hendricks and the Sears boys. By 8 a.m., we would either have a good game of Army, football or basketball already fully underway. Oh yeah, Christmas morning also meant I had to call my good buddy Steve “Goose” Guess and see what Santa brought him. Ole Goose was always a Minnesota Vikings fan, and for at least three decades, Santa brought him some Vikings-related paraphernalia.

Man, how things have changed in our family, as I am sure they have in yours, the loyal readers of the Coach’s Corner. Grandma and Granddaddy are gone now, as are Dad, Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Betty. As a matter of fact, this year our family got in a circle and read the Christmas Story out of the bible. We formed the circle by standing from youngest to oldest. I have moved up to the fifth from the oldest. Families constantly change and evolve, and so do our roles in them.

Changing gears a little bit (or maybe a lot), I will share one of my new year’s resolutions with you. This past Sunday, I was charged with presenting the Children’s Sermon at Cadiz Baptist. I talked to the youth and congregation as a whole about saying blessings before we eat. It is traditional for Christian families to say a blessing over their meal before they partake of it. That is just commonplace at home. But, do we Christians carry out that practice when we are in a restaurant? Sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. That describes me, anyway.

When I do see a family in a restaurant bow their heads for a short prayer before their meal, it has a profound impact on me. I always say to myself, “Wow, look at their Christian commitment and their devotion to their Lord. Now that, in a silent way, is a great witness.” Therefore, I challenged the families of Cadiz Baptist to remember to demonstrate their faith with a short prayer or blessing each time they go out to eat, wherever they are. Think about the impact it could have on our country if every Christian across our nation took time to say a blessing over their food in every restaurant they ate at. It could take a simple resolution and turn it into a sweeping REVOLUTION!

Mathew 10:32 and 33.

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my father which is in heaven.

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven.Enthusiasm Makes the Difference

Mike Wright is the former head coach of boys basketball and cross country at Trigg County High School. Emails concerning Coach’s Corner can be sent to trophyland@outlook.com.